“It’s heartbreaking [and] you still cannot understand how the mother or family feels right now. What could a young girl like Abiela [Adams] do to deserve what happened to her?

“We really need to deal with what is happening in our society today. All my players right now are in tears, crying because they were all close. I could hear the screams while on the phone with some of the parents this morning…”

The following is a TTFA press statement on the death of 15-year-old Trinidad and Tobago Women’s National Youth Team player and Signal Hill Secondary student, Abiela Adams, who was found murdered early this morning in Courland, Tobago. Her throat was slit:

Photo: Former Trinidad and Tobago National Under-15 player Abiela Adams, was found murdered on Saturday 11 February 2017.

The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association today expresses deepest condolences to the family of Abiela Adams who was found murdered in Courland, Tobago.

Abiela was member of the National Under-15 Women’s team and was a bright prospect for the National Women’s your team programme.

She was first selected to the National Under-15 Team last year and journeyed to the CONCACAF Under-15 Women’s Championship at Disney, Orlando where she represented this country’s national team in its matches at that tournament.

TTFA President David John-Williams expressed condolences to the family of Abiela.

“We are deeply saddened by the news of young Abiela’s passing. Our deepest sympathies goes out to her family and we pray that God will grant her family and her closed ones the much needed comfort and peace during this time,” said John-Williams. “The TTFA will make every effort to support the family in this difficult time. Her death comes at a time when women’s football in our country is heading in the right direction.

“We are all shocked at losing a bright prospect like her.”

Photo: Former Trinidad and Tobago National Under-15 player Abiela Adams.

Coach Marlon Charles, who led the T&T Under-15 Team for the 2016 CONCACAF Championship, expressed dismay and shock on hearing of her death.

“When you hear news like this it reflects on home because as someone you have coached, these players become part of you,” said Charles. “You think about it as a father, as a parent, as a coach, you reflect on how she would have encountered everything she had to go through.

“This is really a traumatic situation that has hit us really hard in the football fraternity. She had great potential to go on to play for other national teams and would have been part of the upcoming screening for the National Under-17 Women’s Team.

“She journeyed over from Tobago for the Under-15 screening last year and made the final selection and turned out to be one our better players and I am certain she would have been back for the Under 17s. These are dreams a young lady surely would have had and it has been taken away.”

Women’s National Under-15 Team manager Ricarda Nelson said Abiela’s former teammates were devastated by the news.

Photo: The Trinidad and Tobago Women’s National Under-15 Team warms down after their 4-0 win over the Dominican Republic on 10 August 2016 in the CONCACAF Championships.(Courtesy CONCACAF)

“It’s heartbreaking [and] you still cannot understand how the mother or family feels right now,” said Nelson. “What could a young girl like Abiela do to deserve what happened to her? We really need to deal with what is happening in our society today.

“All my players right now are in tears, crying because they were all close. I could hear the screams while on the phone with some of the parents this morning.

“I am a mother and you have to ask how do you deal with something like this. Her mother was always there at training last year. We even thought that her mother didn’t have a job because she was always there to assist with the team and her daughter, traveling back and forth between Trinidad and Tobago.”

Photo: Former Trinidad and Tobago National Under-15 player Abiela Adams, was found murdered on Saturday 11 February 2017.

437 comments

Vernal Damion Cadogan…I could post some of the initiatives brought forward from the last administration and enquire what is the status. Moreover, our police service is comprised of public servants. When administrations change, policies may change, but shouldn’t there be some level of continuity? If equipment is here, what happens to it? If shortcomings have been identified, when are they going to be addressed? Both major political parties have learned the value of good PR-just like many candidates who go for an interview and ‘oversell’ themselves, only to get the job and then can’t perform. And the nation, as their supervisors, don’t seem to know what standards to hold them to, or how to begin the grievance procedure.

Lasana you know what I find curious?
We all know that the murder rate has been increasing steadily for at least the past 6 years while the murder detection rate has been steadily decreasing, yet not only have no measures been adopted to enhance homicide division’s detection capabilities, but on occasions when foreign police departments with better murder detection capabilities offer their assistance it is refused and those murders go on to remain unsolved.

Trinidad and Tobago is too small and nosey for us to not do better if we really wanted to.
Now maybe Abiela’s murder would be solved. Hopefully. But I’m guessing these kids used taxi.
Between her date and taxi drivers on the various routes, the police can piece together a timeline for their movements in less than half a day.
I’m sure someone in that area she was killed noticed something too. Somebody came in to use a shop. A car parked up that isn’t from the street. Two young people walking…
I still feel it is just a matter of if they can be arsed in many cases. In others, there might be an incentive to not be arsed.

RUBY Adams-Johnson, the grandmother of Tobago’s fourth murder victim, 15-year-old Abiela Adams, yesterday called for hangings to resume in Trinidad and Tobago.

This after Adams, a Form Three pupil of Signal Hill Secondary School, was found with her throat slit near a pile of rubble at Solenn Lane, Fidelis Heights North in Courland.

Three men, including a 19-year-old, were in police custody yesterday assisting with investigations into the teen’s murder.

Adams was said to have had a promising future in football and cricket and was a member of the Trinidad and Tobago Under 15 Women’s national football team.

She was found by relatives yesterday in Courland with her throat slashed.

Police said she left home at 7.30 p.m. on Friday.

Her 19-year-old friend of Plymouth phoned her mother to say she went home after they met.

But this was not the case.

Her mother filed a missing person’s report and Adams’ body was found yesterday.

She was semi-clothed in football shorts.

Grandmother Adams-Johnson broke down in tears when the Sunday Express spoke to her about the teen’s murder.

“Tell them let them do the right thing, start to hang them, that is what they supposed to do, tell them let them do that,” she cried.

She said: “Well, when I hear the news I could have dropped. I could not believe it knowing the child she was. I could not believe what I had heard. I only know she was not rude, she was not disrespectful to people, she was loving, she was nice and when I got the news I start to bawl. She was striving, striving to reach the goal she want. Why her life had to go like this? Innocent ones getting killed and the government very well know what to do.”

Sport Minister Darryl Smith and the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association yesterday expressed condolences to the family of Adams. See Page 70

Under 15 national team manager Ricarda Nelson said the players from that team have been left devastated by the news.

“It’s heartbreaking. You still cannot underhand how the mother or family feels right now. What could a young girl like Abiela do to deserve what happened to her. We really need to deal with what is happening in our society today,” Nelson said.

“All my players right now are in tears, crying because they were all close. I could hear the screams while on the phone with some of the parents this morning. I am a mother and you have to ask how do you deal with something like this. Her mother was always there at training last year. We even thought that her mother didn’t have a job because she was always there to assist with the team and her daughter, traveling back and forth between Trinidad and Tobago,” Nelson said.

There were four murders in Tobago all of last year.

Chief Secretary to meet with police on crime

Tobago House of Assembly Chief Secretary Kelvin Charles will meet with the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) Tobago executive tomorrow morning to discuss the way forward with security on the island.

In a release yesterday Charles said the THA was committed to working with the TTPS and relevant civil society agencies to find solutions to the challenges of crime on the island.

“I wish to assure the public that security of citizens is a top priority and that the THA is prepared to do what it has to, in order to protect Tobagonians. With this in mind, the THA has been strategising and developing initiatives to deal with the challenges, and the public will be informed,” Charles said.

He said the recent murders on the island, as well as crime in general, demand the attention and cooperation of all members of the public, leaders and protectors.

He expressed condolences to loved ones of those who have lost someone to violence, including Adams.

“All loss of any life is painful to society and loved ones. We all have a role to play in resolving this growing problem,” he said.

The public is being urged to come forward and report to the police any information related to crime, the statement said.

I saw this and I really felt this poor woman’s helplessness. So desperate is she for some semblance of justice that she hasn’t considered that the police catch relatively few murderers therefore there is no one to hang.

So true eh. There was a report recently saying that back in 2006 or 08 (I think) the passed a law to collect Insurance Premium Tax from vehicle owners and the fund is now over $1Bn. In that law there was no provision made as to HOW the disbursement is to be made to those injured in an accident by negligent drivers. I was like WDA

Vernal Damion Cadogan…was just going to say that. We fed up pointing to bodies like the FIU, IC, Office of the Ombudsman, even the Auditor General. We set up these bodies to appear transparent, but give them no/little power/authority/resources, and somehow expect them to succeed.

Nerisha. This is it “In the 2008 budget presentation, the then-minister of finance announced that a fund would be established to compensate accident victims of uninsured drivers. To date, a total of $1,067,000,000 has been collected from motorists but none has been paid out.”

I am not sure that it follows that people are blaming a victim when they make comments about who she was associating with etc. No one deserves to be murdered but questions can be asked about the victim’s lifestyle before it occurred.

I’ve reached out to Mr. Alleyne voicing my opinion that as his show brings the latest update on what’s currently happening in Trinidad and Tobago he should speak out on reinstate the flying squad to the highest levels of the ministry of national security and the police commissioner on what’s happening on both islands the crime and murders are spiraling out of control and there seems to be no form of respect for the laws governing the land

A properly constituted flying squad. But what about the SSA etc? If they had issue with them being disbanded, and said they contributed to the fight against crime through Intel gathering, what is being done to address that shortcoming-seeming lack of Intel gathering?

My heart goes out to the family at this time. May the Lord God Jehovah grant you all that enduring strength to take you through the harrowing pain and grief.

I also pray that the murderer be quickly brought to justice.

I also agree with Bernadette Mc Leod that THE RHETORIC IS CRAP! Government , Faith Based Organizations, NGOs and the like MUST ACT NOW : 1) counteract THE CULTURE OF MALE/GENDER BASED VIOLENCE and 2) cultivate PROPER MENTORING OF THE YOUTHS IN LIFE CHOICES.

So very sad, at my first thoughts this could be a crime of passion since such is the severity and brutality of the “murder” and given the stats a good place to start is her personal life however not exclusive could be a fan, crazed person, or a simple burglar gone wrong whoever it was deserves the fullest weight of the law behind them for sniffing out the dreams of a young person and her mother God RIP

This is so sad , my country is falling apart, so much terrible things happening. No matter what happened, how could someone look at another person and slit there throat? and if this person is 19 years and killing at that age it tells you we’re really lost

Antoinette Kerr, let’s hope and pray that you will never be an asshole and allow your child to go out with she man at age 15 .
Nowhere in my statement I mentioned she deserves to die, but the truth is that she is now dead and all I’m doing is looking at what could’ve prevented her death. To me, if she was home with her parent’s instead of being out with she man she would of been alive today.
So let me be the ASSHOLE who is educating you.

My condolences…. but on de other youths today wheather be it male or female dey are dying at such a young age… Why dey refuse to listen to there elders or guardians…. dey refuse to go to school…. dey refuse to do work around de yard or look for something to do to occupy their time wisely… and social media has a control on them “cause dey see it they wanna act it or be it….

Ooh Lord my God when am in awesome wonder !, considered all the works thy hands hav made!, i see the stars, i heard the rolling thunder , thy power through out the universe display…. My condolences to the bereavement family. May their faith comfort them thruout this difficult time. Am a Jamaican , but it doesn’t matter who r where, my heart is bleeding…..

I’m I missing something here??
I thought I got a post this morning that the culprit was apprehend alive and well.
Of course with all the attendant descriptives but in great health.
So let’s move to the next one.

The phrasing of this headline is so fucked up.
What could she have done to deserve this? Fucking nothing. She’s a damn child. Nothing is the answer and we all know that so why is this even being presented as a damn question hypothetical or not?? Why aren’t we asking what depraved person could do this to a damn child?

As a primary school student a teacher once asked our class “Trinidadians have a tendency to make a joke of mostly anything … is it a good trait or not”? .. each can answer … but suffice to say when we make light of unseen ingrained corrupt practices and injustucez we leave the heavy injustucez to be seen … food for thought … we pray!

We’re too small an island for all this mess. Some have forgotten God and don’t seem to fear Him. We’ve lost our value system, our love for others. The little ones disrespect their parents and in turn those in authority.We’re a lost society filled with corrupt politicians, businessmen and government officials, including in the list are members of national security. How do we clean up T&T? Where do we start?

First, by admitting there is a problem! One collective message! And in case ppl have not realised, unless anybody can provide the data, these unnatural deaths are not limited to one race or political party. So it affects us all! We need to demand those with the power and authority to do so, take action. We need ppl to live by if you see something, say something. Keep in mind, the way things are going, your number may call soon.

All we hear are mothers crying…. where are the ones in charge of National Security? where are the Womantra and other such groups? Where are the elected MPs, Govt and Opposition? Unless they can score political points, silence. I pray for the family of this bright star that has be put out, and for all those that are crying for lost ones.

Be care full bro you know some of these women lib groups don’t like to hear the truth, she is 15 years old why are you putting yourself in that position, why are her parents allowing a 15 year old to have a man and going out that hour at that age and especially in these time where these kind of sick things are happening. Really take a look at the reply from that woman ” really now” anyway forget it blame Rowley and done.

Lasana Liburd I agree that the authorities cannot be everywhere. Maybe that huge National Security budget should be split in 2. One half for forensics and other higher level analytical skills. The other 1/2 aimed at making it worthwhile for people to ‘assist’ in solving crimes and community policing efforts.

Another innocent life taken away by some evil SOB. Another family in pain. T & T in criminality crisis. Again I ask. Where’s the Minister of National Security Where’s the Police Commissioner? What happen cat bite all yuh tongue? Who’s speaking up for citizens giving them some type of consolation letting know yu all feeling their pain yu all hearing their cries. Ssstteeeuuupppsss.

I don’t understand why everytime a woman is being kidnapped murdered or raped people ready to get on social media and criticize. Nobody searching their soul to think and then to say this is wrong this should not happen. I just saw a comment about a 19yr old person. She’s 15 can’t she hve a 19yr old friend? And friend don’t always mean going to bed with each other. A young woman in her 20s was killed up here in New York by two good friends of hers friends she knows from small. They held the guys but can’t find the young woman’s body up to now because they told authorities they dump her body in the sea. This girl mom died couple months ago from cancer she’s an only child her Father is now left in pain. Is this young woman wrong to hve these guys as child hood friends that she trusted from small? Stop the judgement.

I can see wht PM Rowley is speaking about and a lot of people taking his words out of context I used those same words several times. And why? Because I see women get involve with men who was either in jail for murder already or robbery or drugs the women shack up with the man then yu will hear the woman got murdered by the individual then yu will hear the guy hve a rap sheet from here to hell. For instance a young woman was murdered here couple months ago she was a corrections officer. When it happened ppl trying to find out who can do this to her she just left up stairs at her mom she was on her way to work and was sitting in her car speaking to her mom on her phone before she drive off. This person just stop his car pump bullets in her and drive off. After a few days of wondering who could do this to her. Guess wht a Trinidadian guy who was her ex boyfriend he was in and out of jail. Up untill two days ago a friend and I wondering. Why was she involve with someone like that knowing his record.

In Trinidad is time for women to come out and form a group and protest against violence on women. Call for meetings hve a forum with the Commissioner of police and Minister of National Security. Don’t only talk the talk on social media. Walk the talk. Something have to be done it’s time

The exception doesn’t prove the rule. Because some women made bad choices isn’t a reason to speak like that to all women. And it isn’t a reason to blame the woman for her own death either.
To me, violence is a matter for both sexes. But I have no problem with any group that tries to help.

Lasana Liburd. I agree with yu. I even feel sorry for ppl in corrupt relationships and don’t use their courage to run as far away as they can. Yu see even children being taken advantage of by poor choices of their Mothers. This is sad and it’s time fr the people in charge to get out and show citizens that they are hearing their cries and working on a solution.

Hmm…posted that comment above and now see this. Sorry but…wtf? Even if she was with a blasted 60 year old man, let’s say he was the killer, that give him a right to end her life? If her death had nothing to do with who she going out with, is her death her punishment? Is there some vigilante going about killing women who are ‘irresponsible’ or something? Because that seems the common thread?

Lasana, while there is still so much speculation as to what transpired (from start to sad finish), is it really victim blaming when ppl ask why a young girl is allowed to go out at night with a 19 year old? Or can it be seen as concern at the rules of engagement and parenting guidelines in the home? The comments imo in no way discounts the murderous intentions and responsibility of whoever the killer is (19 or 60 year old). But there certainly seems to be a hard line being adopted that one must focus solely on the killers (males), so if and when others comment on other factors it is seen as blaming the victim or following the line of the PM. FYI many ppl have been expressing similar views (rightly or wrongly) of the PM long years before they were openly stated…so it is not necessarily a question of ppl being sheeple.

Yes Lasana i know that a young lady was murdered. However, I was not responding solely to one poster who’s first concern was as you identified. I am pointing out something else: that the concern of others on various platforms ) was not “if the victim was younger than the person she went out with” but the possible vulnerability of an adolescent heading out after dark with an older man. That said, the general query …..in no way, in my view, discounts the responsibility of the heinous criminal who took her life, or necessarily discredits the victim or assigns blame for her death to the victim. We (or at least I) have no idea of the facts behind this case, relying solely on the media…. but as a parent I do have concerns about the role and guidance of her parents/guardians for an AGYW. Sorry you didn’t get my point which was far more general than reference to one poster.

Well, your response came under one poster Dawn. That’s who I thought you were referencing. Of course people can discuss when is a right time for a teenage girl to go out and what sort of supervision there should be and so on.
Some will say one thing and some will say something else.
Is that really so relevant at the time of her murder though? She didn’t go out with an older man. She went out with a 19-year-old kid.
You think the age of the boy is related to the killing? Are 19 year olds more likely to murder than 16 year olds?
I’m not sure what the point about the boy’s age is exactly.

What is relevant at the time of any murder? Emotions – Sadness, anger, rage, powerlessness etc. Questions: why? Where? How? No one saw? I’m that context her age arises as a AGYW and her companion for the reasons I already mentioned. We know that age is not necessarily a predictor of murder. But we do know that a 19 year old is considered an adult in the eyes of the law.

For me what she had on her Facebook wall, for instance, is just about as relevant as whether she was a good student in school or not. By which I mean not at all. Yet people are sharing her photos and trying to shame her and her parents.
The only relevant questions to me are: who could have done it, how were they able to do it, how can we catch killer and how can we lessen the likelihood of future murders like this.
Having girls/women not go out “for their own safety” is not a crime plan and cannot be a serious response in any civilised nation. We should be trying to ensure that they are safe when they are out.

Certainly not in support of victim blaming, because it really shouldn’t matter…I feel though that ‘normal, well-adjusted’ folk could find themselves walking that path of blame – in fear, as a defence, as a means of aiding their human minds in the rationalising of inhumane acts….if there is some ‘reason’ for the perpetration of such a horrid act, then perhaps ‘I or my daughter might be spared if we choose a different MO, perhaps I need not be so terrified and perpetually anxious. Irrational yes, but not limited to poorly adjusted minds. It is the same premise on which we take some odd form of comfort in the statement ‘oh, well he was in a gang’ when someone is gunned down…because that way of thinking, lets us sleep. That said, I totally agree that the questions in a case like this should never be ‘who the young girl was dating or how old the person may or may not have been’ because she was a child of Ours and could never have deserved that.

I think it might just be ppl’s way of coping. Rationalizing. And I expect mental health to soon be on the decline, ppl cannot continue to live on heightened fight or flight instinct, anticipating trouble at any second. But even if we use that to try to make sense of crimes perpetrated, logic should cause us to ask, what did the elderly couple who was robbed do, or the elderly woman who was killed? We can take all the precaution in the world, and still be victims of crime. Cars come equipped with abs, air bags, seatbelts and ppl still die despite all of that, but manufacturers try to provide as much safety features as they can given the price range.

Dawn, a young lady was murdered. He said his “first concern” was that she went out with a 19 year old.
Now why would a normal well adjusted person’s first concern on hearing about a murder be whether the victim was younger than the person she went out with?
Is that really the first thing he wanted to know about this case?
When the first thing you do in any case of abuse is try to discredit the victim then, yes, that is victim blaming Dawn.

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